Teacups Full of Wine
by HecateA
Summary: Remus? Gone. Sirius? Dead. How are Kingsley and Tonks coping, you might ask? Well... at least they have each other. Oneshot.


**Author's Note: **Whoop, here it is. Love this bromance. Not sure if this was supposed to be deeper than it is or not, but it definitely dissolved into… well, things. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

**Warnings: **Alcohol. They're a little drunk.

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**Stacked with: **MC4A; Remains of War; Flouting Regulations; Sky's the Limit; Eternal Rhapsody

**Individual Challenge(s): **Cracked Facade; Hufflepuff MC; Gryffindor MC; Bow Before the Blacks; Seeds; Golden Times; Old Shoes; Themes and Things A (Friendship); Themes and Things B (Loss); Advice From the Mug; Ethnic and Present; True Colours; Rian-Russo Inversion (Y); Flags and Ribbons (Y); Letter of the Day; Short Jog; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux

**Representation(s): **Wine-drunk Tonks and Kingsley talking about their respective love lives

**Bonus challenge(s): **A Long Dog; Larger Than Life; Unicorn; Second Verse (Ladylike); Chorus (Odd Feathers)

**Tertiary bonus challenge: **NA

**Word Count: **1082

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_**Shipping Wars**_

**Ship (Team): **Sirius Black and Kingsley Shacklebolt (Starry Storms)

**List (Prompt): **Summer Medium 1 (Death/dying)

* * *

_**Summer Bingo**_

**Space Address (Prompt): **5A (Dust)

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**Teacups Full of Wine **

This was not what Kingsley would call the _best _representation of the Auror Department's finest. But he and Tonks definitely were sitting on his kitchen floor in their comfiest, most loose, softest, grossest clothes, drinking wine out of teacups. Tonks wasn't sure what they were even drinking; they'd started with some red wine older than she was, but that hadn't lasted long.

She had her back to the counter; his was to the fridge. They were facing each other, legs mingling.

"It's Friday night and we're both off for the first time in months, possibly the last," Kingsley mused. "We could be anywhere. Doing anything."

"I don't want to deal with anybody or anything," she answered. "Except you. You're cool."

"You're cool too," Kingsley said. "I'm sorry Remus can't see that."

"Remus is complicated," Tonks said. "I'm sorry Sirius isn't here anymore."

Kingsley seemed to stiffen.

"I knew I was going to get drunk and say something," Dora muttered.

"How did you know?"

"About you and Sirius?" she asked. "Remus told me. Sirius told him, I guess. Maybe he just deduced. He's smart, you know, even if he's an idiot. Was it supposed to be a secret?"

Kingsley pondered this for a second and then took another swig of wine. The teacup had flowers on it, so this was still classy and this coping mechanism was still okay.

"Does it matter?" he asked.

"Of course it does," Dora said, putting her cup down. "It matters because you're obviously hurting. You and I are drinking—umm—rosée on your floor at 3:00 a.m. That's not a sign of being alright. That's not a sign of anything, actually."

"We should talk about _your_ problem," Kingsley said. "Because your idiot is still alive and so there's still presumably something to be done about this situation."

"No, we should talk about yours because we'll never get around to it sober," Tonks said, readjusting herself. "Did you see a future with you and Sirius? Before he died?"

"I don't know, Dora," Kingsley said. "Sirius wasn't like that; he didn't think about the future much. He was in a bad place, didn't think he had one."

"I can only imagine," Dora said. "But what did you think?"

"Well, yeah," Kingsley said. "You can't help it, when you feel like the pieces have finally… fit together. And they never do, usually, because people are squares and you're a round peg. But then you find someone who's not a square and it's hard not to get excited. It's like puppy love all over again because you just found your brand of person and so everything feels possible."

"Amen," Dora said, reaching for the bottle of —white?— they were working on. She refilled their teacups with little to no spilling.

"So I did, I guess. And I told him because I told him everything and when I did he looked happy."

"That's something," Dora said.

"Is it?" Kingsley asked. "He's dead now."

He drained his cup.

"I'm so sorry, Kingsley," she said quietly. "It's my fault."

"No, it's not," he said. "Lestrange got you from behind. That was dirty. He knew what he was doing. He lost his own duel."

Then he took the bottle from her.

"What about you?" he asked. "You're not so bad off. Remus is still… where is Remus anyways? Do we know? I miss him, he's my friend."

Tonks sighed and took the bottle from him.

"Remus John Lupin has decided to… well, he was sent on Order business to the werewolf colonies." She scrunched her nose disapprovingly. "In Greyback's territory."

"Merlin," Kingsley said. "What's Dumbledore hoping that'll accomplish?"

"I don't know!" Tonks said. "_Finally _someone who agrees with me. Even Remus didn't sound convinced. I think he was just trying to get away from me."

"That's ridiculous he loves you," Kingsley said.

"You're telling me," Tonks said. She ducked when he tried to take the bottle back and took another gulp. "Maybe he doesn't. I mean, it's possible."

"No," Kingsley said. "No, you're great. He's got to. He's just being a tool."

"He is a tool," Tonks said. "Why am I so into tools, Kingsley?"

"Are you a lesbian?"

"Lesbians don't get this sad over men, don't be ridiculous," Tonks said, drinking more wine. "I'm just a sad, sad bisexual."

Kingsley took the bottle back. "Remus will come around. He's a smart man, he's just scared. This stuff is scary. Look what happens when it goes wrong."

"You end up sitting on a floor getting wine drunk."

"Yeah. It'll be fine. The tool-ness is temporary."

"I think the word you're looking for is toolality."

"I think you're drunk and making up words."

"Thanks for the input, Captain Sobriety," she said. "Means a lot."

She leaned her head back against the counter. "At least I know that Remus… he's not safe, but he's out there. I'm sorry you don't have that."

This time, she willingly passed the bottle to Kingsley.

Kingsley said. "Life's like that. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust and all of that. Except Sirius. We didn't get to bury him."

Tonks didn't say anything. She did reach out and run her finger along the kitchen tiles.

"This is dusty too," she mused.

"I don't clean when I'm sad," Kingsley said.

"You're sad?" Tonks said. "I can't believe you admitted it."

"I guess you win."

"I can't win when my cousin's dead and my friend is sad," Tonks said. "Come here."

She actually came to him, stepping over their teacups and navigating around empty wine bottles so that she sat next to him. She pulled him against her and Kingsley realised just how touch starved he'd really been, as she wrapped an arm around him.

"You know what?" Tonks said.

"What?"

"I'm glad we're here," Tonks said. "I don't want you to do this alone, okay? I'm your person from now on. I'm not a circle that you can peg—"

"That's not appropriate."

"Don't be gross," she said. "I'm not, like, a circle to match your circle. I think I'm a triangle. Or something less cool like a pentagram."

"Pentagon."

"Maybe that," she conceded. "But I'm gonna be your person now."

"And I'm going to be yours," Kingsley said. "Do you want to drink more wine or do you want to order Chinese food?"

"I want to do both," Tonks said.

"That's good. Grab your teacup," he said, getting up. "I've got this one white wine we haven't drunk yet. Let's go, Pentagon."


End file.
